More protesting keeps me busy.

OK so I disappeared for several months. I've been busy. Sing along...'We're busy doing nothing, working the whole day through, trying to find lots of things not to do'. Yup, I'm a Brit builder. Dodgy as a Wall Street banker with White House connections. Actually, I've just not been in the mood to write at all. Too busy building an art studio so that I can get back to oil painting. It's been YEARS since I painted. I bought a load of scaffolding planks really cheap and built a studio. Woodburning stove and antique style sink to clean out the brushes. It all takes time.

On the biking front I have never stopped! Man oh man but I have clocked up some miles on the Aprilia RSV. I still love it.

After my brief protest ride with Bike magazine I learned of another ride to protest against Westminster Council charging bikes to park in London. Greedy, money-grabbing and arrogant often seems to describe the local councils of England. We all hate them with a vengeance. So when I heard that loads of bikers were meeting at the Ace Cafe on the North Circular to ride around the whole of the M25 I just had to see it. Saturday 19th of June 2010. Of course the campaign to stop the charges were doomed never to succeed but being surrounded by almost 2,000 bikes all thundering along all 3-4 lanes of the M25 was great! The Police seemed to love it and were helpful and friendly. A very petite young lady dropped her Kawasaki just as we were queueing to leave and oil was dripping from a damaged crankcase. I follwed her in case she broke down but she managed as far as South Mimms (that silly name again) where a rescue truck took her and her bike home. Everyone was enjoying the ride and one girl said it was her first ever protest ride. We laughed about finding any excuse to protest something just to ride with thousands of bikes. I did 2/3s of the M25 and then peeled off at junction 10 for the A3 home. It took the whole day but the sheer spectacle of being in the midst of all those bikes was fabulous.

Whatever next?

A ride through France anyone?